Magazine Archives: Nov. 15, 2010

French Activists Destroy Experimental Vineyard

The attack came at dawn. On Aug. 15, around 70 members of a group known as Les Faucheurs Volontaires-"the Voluntary Reapers"-infiltrated an experimental vineyard in Colmar, France, digging up and hacking apart some 70 vines with genetically modified (GM) rootstocks, grown by the French National Institute for Agronomic Research (INRA). In the 20 minutes it took police to arrive, the Faucheurs inflicted about 1.2 million euros ($1.56 million) worth of damage to the publicly funded project, leaving an empty patch of dirt. Wine Spectator's Ben O'Donnell reports.

For the full article, check out the new issue of Wine Spectator, on newsstands October 26, 2010.

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